IMPORTANT POINT
The State must compensate landowners when it fails to return possession of land after annulment of a vesting order, as per the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act.

JUDGMENT :

PRASENJIT BISWAS, J.

1. The judgment and order dated 29.09.2022 passed by a learned Single Bench of this Court disposing of W.P.A. No. 15849 of 2018 is assailed in this appeal.

2. By passing the impugned order, learned Single Bench directed the District Magistrate, Paschim Medinipur to take necessary steps for payment of compensation to the writ petitioners at the present market rate within 3 months from the date of communication of that order. Being aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the said order the State of West Bengal and its concerned officers have preferred this appeal.

3. It is not in dispute that the State Government had vested 13.75 acres of land of the writ petitioners under the provision of the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act. Thereafter the State Government distributed ‘Pattas’ amongst the landless persons/ tribal families who were in occupation of portions of the said land. The order of vesting was set aside by an order passed by the Appellate Authority. But the names of the writ petitioners were not incorporated in the record of rights by the concerned revenue Authority. The matter travelled to this Court and a learned Single Bench by passing an order dated 08.10.1996 in C.O. 15907(W) of 1996 directed that the vesting order having been set aside, all settlements/ ‘Pattas’ granted over the land of the writ petitioners should be annulled and the land should be returned to the owners/writ petitioners. A further attempt by the State authorities to vest the land of the writ petitioners was again set aside by a Division Bench of this Court on 21.02.2005 in connection with W.P.L.R.T 982 of 2002 whereby two orders, being an order dated 12th December, 2001 passed by the West Bengal Land Reforms Act and Tenancy Tribunal in O.A. 2377 of 2011 (LRTT) and an order dated 2nd August, 2002 passed by the said Tribunal in Misc. Case No. 86 of 2000 arising out of the said original application were set aside. The order passed by the Division Bench of this Court was assailed before the Hon’ble Apex Court but the said order was affirmed by the Apex Court. In compliance with the order of the Division Bench of this Court dated 21.02.2005, the record of rights was corrected in the names of the writ petitioners/respondents and corrected record of rights was issued in the year 2011. However, the State Government failed to hand over vacant possession of the land to the writ petitioners. As such the writ petitioners made representations with a prayer for returning the land, before different Authorities.

4. It is stated by the writ petitioners that the State Authorities induced them to sign on a letter of handing over possession but in fact actual possession was never handed over to them as the land was fully occupied by encroachers. It is further stated by the writ petitioners that the issue of return of land to the writ petitioners was taken up by the concerned B.D.O, Dantan - I in a meeting and a minutes was prepared wherein it was categorically recorded that around 59 families are residing on the plots in question for more than 30 years. It has been further stated by the writ petitioners that on the assurance meted out by the State Authorities, regarding return of the concerned land, they transferred some plots of land to the government for settlement in favour of the encroachers and also sold some other plots of land to the encroachers directly but unfortunately the concerned lands were not handed over to them. On the basis of the representation made by the present writ petitioners a report was prepared jointly by the Revenue Inspector and B.L & L.R.O, Dantan I and was submitted to the concerned B.D.O. It would appear from the said report that still there are encroachers on the land and it contains all the particulars of the encroachers. Finding no other alternative the writ petitioners again knocked the door of this Court by filing a writ petition being W.P.A. No. 15849 of 2018 and the said petition was disposed of in favour